Please RT to spread the word about the confusing NYC ballot. Make sure your vote counts! https://t.co/HtFUzJqXoI pic.twitter.com/2hroSUXgIy
? Vote WFP (@VoteWFP) November 4, 2014Just think of all the funny stuff that never used to happen on election nights because social media wasn't a thing yet! (Though the night will never quite live up to full selfie-fueled potential because it's illegal to take pics of your ballot at polling stations in 35 states.)
On what was going to be a closely watched (and yet lightly attended, according to predictions) day at the polls anyway, the usual assortment of viral images has started making the rounds.
Starting us off, as the results start to trickle in—as of right this second, the GOP has picked up three of the six seats the party needs to regain a majority in the Senate—is the fact that the race for county commissioner in Minneapolis' 4th District came down tonight to Peter McLaughlin and one Captain Jack Sparrow.
Ballot of the day. #Election2014 pic.twitter.com/p1cYLpwtGE
? Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) November 4, 2014True story!
According to local news, that's most certainly a real guy—but the odds are probably against him, because he also unsuccessfully ran for mayor on a populist-sounding platform and voters may not be into having their local politicians actually dress like pirates.
Then there's Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, who didn't realize that the picture he snapped at a polling station this morning and subsequently tweeted in an effort to get out the vote was mainly a photo of the crack of a woman's bum peeking from the top of her pants while she was in the middle of doing her civic duty.
Nixon promptly deleted the tweet, but...you know the Internet.
ELECTION DAY UPDATE: Let's j"ust say this photo tweeted this AM by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon left us 'cracking' up," onetime GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain offered his bum-partisan support via Twitter.
We also like that Jesse Tyler Ferguson decided not to do the cliched thing and post a photo of his "I voted" sticker, and instead just posted a video of himself singing showtunes in the car. Always appreciated.
And lest we forgot, this voter in Kentucky gave his opinion on incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell (who held onto his seat) while voting a few booths away from the politician and made for presumably the best photobomb of the day:
A very good point right here:
Switching back and forth between #ElectionDay coverage on CNN and PBS is like switching between WWE Raw and a dentist office waiting room.
— Lori Packer (@LoriPA) November 5, 2014**control room looks up at the votes in unison**
"oh my godddd" (super dramatically) #CNNElection @CNN @CNNPolitics pic.twitter.com/kvYD4pYWxn
— Christina Manduley (@cmanduley) November 5, 2014Tom Brokaw got a phone call during MSNBC's coverage of the returns. "I thought you were a fire!" Rachel Maddow joked about his alarm-reminiscent ring tone.